Maddy

Bula's training has taken several steps backwards due to a new cage and a new friend...but I anticipated as much. Thankfully his new friend, Vinaka, is only a baby and has no fear of humans ingrained into her mind just yet. Hopefully she'll be a good influence on him. I took a video of me trying to get them used to me. I was sneaky and covered my hand with a towel. Because they (mostly Bula, Vinaka just follows) couldn't see the hand, they didn't freak out as much. But see what happens to Bula's attitude once my hand is revealed...its what I was talking about when i said he was traumatised. But he's not a lost cause :laughter:

Giardiasis is an infectious disease caused by a parasite present in the drinking water of many cities. Again, its more common in the US That is very odd Kaz its as if something has just snapped quite suddenly in the birds mind

I had a look at my bird health and disease and looked for the symptoms. The only two things I can see is: 'Giardiasis', two of the signs being: - Excessive feather grooming and - Feather picking and screaming It's not Common in Australia The only other other one is Feather picking, caused by stress. And from the video it looks like the likely option. I had the same problem with some of my finches when I bred them. I solved it by taking them out of the aviary and separating them for a while. It was only the males doing it so I assumed it was stress from breeding.

If I can find my SLR then I will post some clearer pictures. I need a slightly quicker shutter speed. Bula isn't young...even if the pet shop keeper told me so. I actually don't know how old he is, and his cere has not changed colour since I got him

Well, that photo is very accurate on the colour of Bula's cere Vinaka moved (sorry ) but hers is a pale blue to whitish blue on the top with a slight tinge of purple nearer her beak

lol I mean that in the way that you know a h** of alot more than I do XD So...whats the jurisdiction?

Kaz has told me that my Bula might be a girl. Though this would not be terrible I would like to know. The picture she based that decision on was a little off-colour, as I was sure that he was male. But Kaz knows all and I am doubting my own judgement so I would like to double check Also, a confirmation as to whether Vinaka is a girl or not would be greatly appreciated too (Vinaka=left, Bula=right) Also...Vinaka = normal violet?

I can take the non flash photos, but I can't quarantine. I have another cage but I am only allowed to keep the birds in my room because of the mess they make (and its my mums house)

Yes. 'Vinaka' is Fijian for 'Thank You'. As my other budgie is 'Bula' which is fijian for 'hello/welcome/good morning etc'...i was just going with the theme

Will do And I thought lighter coloured hens had brown ceres? The flash is blowing out the colours, its more of a purple colour...does that matter?

3. Violet is a factor, much like a dark factor. True violet only shows up in cobalt (white base budgie with dark factor), or if it is a double violet on sky blue (white based with no dark) so 1. Yes and 2. Yes When a green budgie has a violet factor it darkens the body colour much like a dark factor. A violet tinge will usually be visible near the feet and vent

I bought a 'happy hut' as we are coming up to winter. But as Vinaka is a girl and Bula is a boy, I was wondering if they would try and make it a nest? I don't want them to as Vinaka is underage (she still has a little black on her beak) and I know that a bird that young breeding could cause all sorts of problems. Also, I would call her a normal violet yes? (The flash is blowing out the blue )

Thats definately a boy you got there He's very pretty. My little boy has livened up with a friend as well. He sings more and moves around the cage, following whatever she does.

lol I get the same from my mum XD The top picture is its real colours, but they could very well change after she moults I just love how Bula took to her so quickly. They are sharing a food dish and grooming each other, and Bula is still feeding her And I know Dave, I've been bad. Hopefully my good luck with birds in the past lives on And she has a name too. She has been dubbed Vinaka

Okay, I'm probably going to get in trouble off you guys for this I had an impulse purchase today. Meet my new addition I know I should've put it in quarantine, I did a big no no. But I was only allowed to put it in my room (i live with my parents) and I didn't see the point of putting it in a quarantine cage in the same room. What I was fretting most was whether or not Bula would get along with it. But they had an instant connection and Bula even started playing daddy bird (regurgitating food for it), and singing which I thought was absolutely adorable To me it looks like a girl. The cere is blue with a bit of white, and there is still some black on the beak Heres a closer picture but with a flash. The picture above is its true colours. All I need to do now is think of a name

Well, I might just go back there for the hen If I do, I will be sure to say something

Yesterday I went to a pet shop to look around (one of my favourite past times) and stumbled upon a cage full of budgies. I absolutely fell in love with one of the young hens in there, but I was also a little worried about a couple of the others. There were two olive cinnamons' in there that were missing their tails and an albino (can't remember if it was a hen or cock) that had missing secondary's and blood on its primary's. There was also a nest box at the bottom of the cage (there was nothing in there) Should I go back and intervene? Or am I worrying for no reason.

Awwwww cute Is she tame? She looks pretty relaxed while your taking her photo

Oh my goodness isn't Farmville a terrible time eater But I'm glad you were able to break the hole it had on you :rofl: welcome back

LOL I watched the original alice in wonderland and I thought they were cute. I was gonna put some hammer head birds in there too but i just stuck with the pencil heads

I did. This is what I said: "Actually thats false. You cannot tell by the colour of their beak, but by the cere (the bit around their nostrils). If it is blue then its a boy, if its brown then it is a girl. Unless you have a lighter colour budgie (like Felfel above) it which case it is a pinky, purple if its a boy and brown if it is a girl." Felfel being a lutino budgie in the video :emoticon112:

This is kind of on-topic but I didn't know where else to put it. I was watching a video on youtube, of a mother budgie feeding her baby, and this was one of the comments: "I HAVE 8 BUDGIES FOR NOW AND I KNOW BY HARD WHCH ON IS A GIRL AND WHICH ONE IS A BOY. A budgie with a dark brown bic (mouth) is a girl a budgie with a light brown bic(mouth) is a boy." I'm pretty sure "bic" is supposed to be beak, and "HARD" is supposed to be hand...but I just had to laugh out loud :emoticon112:

:emoticon112:

I don't breed budgies but I can tell you what I've learnt on this forum First of all, colony breeding (breeding in an aviary) doesn't always produce happy results. When colony breeding there is always the chance that a hen will fight another for the right to a breeding box and even kill (the hen or its chicks or both). Breeding Boxes prevents this from happening as long as you have one pair to a cage. It also allows you to select pairs that you want to breed. In colony breeding, its going to be random as to who pairs up with who. Your birds are most likely not interested in the nest boxes because they are not in breeding condition. This could be due to a number of reasons, like age or weather. But until they look as though they are ready to breed, I would take those nest boxes out. Again, I don't breed, and am pretty amateur myself, but this is what I've learnt. If anyone would like to correct me or add anything to this please go right ahead lol And welcome to the forum